chick emergency

Hi all! I'm new to the forum, but have read here for a while. Hoping someone can help...

We brought home four new chicks on 2/24 (two White Leghorns & two New Hampshire Reds). The babies are only a few days old, wingtip feathers only. Three of them are thriving, but one is not doing well.

I noticed the first morning that she had pasty butt, and I rinsed her well in warm water, cleaning away the poop. Her little rear end has continued to swell and swell, though. I've tried giving her a little yogurt (saw on BYC) and sitting her in warm water, which made her poop a little the first time, but since then, nothing. She looked great yesterday around lunch time, but now she can't even sit down. Her butt is so swollen (not the vent, but all of her behind). Is there anything I can do for her? She's pitiful just standing and peeping constantly.

I would smear her whole hind end good with Neosporin, then start forcing water with a dropper at the side of her beak, til she starts drawing it in, drop by drop. Hopefully this is just constipation. If you have sugar in the water, I would change it out for a tiny bit of molasses instead. Keep her hind end greased with Neosporin (or Vaseline or cooking oil or whatever) til she looks better. Just don't use a product with a "caine" drug in it, such as cetacaine, benzocaine, etc. Good luck!

Welcome, I'm kinda new here too, but it kinda sounds like what I went thru with one of my ladies.

Maybe she's constipated? I had a chick that was constipated. I soaked her butt in warm water, massage her back end and put some kind of lube on her vent. I used Ky liquid. I had to do this every couple hours for about a weak before it resolved. Every time she tried to poop, she would make these awful noises. I thought for sure I was gonna lose her. Thankfully my vet is a chicken keeper and she walked me thru what to do. Hopefully everything works out.

I had a chick that was constipated. I ended up giving her 'chick enemas' for a time. I used a very small syringe - I think it was a 1cc one. I would lube up the tip, fill it with warm water, insert into the vent and slowly press in the plunger. I was careful not to insert anything but the very tip inside and was very gentle. I would repeat this process until stool was passed, and I would rub her belly in a circular motion as well. I felt like I had nothing to lose by trying this, and knew the risks. I could basically tell by picking her up and rubbing her belly if I needed to assist. I also started feeding her boiled egg by herself most days to ensure she was getting enough nutrition. As time went on, she got better and better about going by herself. It would take her a while to go - she would often just be in a corner of the brooder by herself trying to go. She did not grow as fast as the others. I wondered as she matured if there would be anything wrong with her when it came time to lay. But she was actually our first silkie to lay and everything seems to work just fine. There is no size difference now between her and the other silkie hens, it just took her longer to catch up. I don't know what caused her to go through this phase - it was when she was only a few weeks old.

Thank you all for the advice. My son just called to tell me she'd died, poor little baby. This is our first chick loss, so we've been fortunate. We have two year-old hens who lay daily and have been very healthy, so we decided to add some new ones this year. I sure do appreciate all the help! I'm sure I'll be around for advice. We've enjoyed our girls so much this year and the fresh eggs are awesome.